All posts by z3u9t.icu

Sky Sports reporter Lyall Thomas has shared some transfer news out of Tottenham Hotspur involving Borussia Monchengladbach star Matthias Ginter.

The Lowdown: Conte makes demands?

The Lilywhites and transfer chief Fabio Paratici, according to reports, are operating under the orders of manager Antonio Conte as the Spurs head coach makes summer window demands behind-the-scenes.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/tottenham-newest-updates/” title=”Tottenham newest updates…” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Most recently, it has been claimed that Conte has personally requested the signing of a left-sided centre-half (Calciomercato), as well as Juventus midfielder and USA international Weston McKennie (La Gazzetta dello Sport via Sport Witness).

The former Chelsea manager, it appears, is seeking to re-shape the Spurs squad in his own image whilst gifting his new side the best chance of success for his first full campaign.

Now, as relayed by Thomas, it appears Tottenham and Conte are eyeing a new target in soon-to-be free agent Ginter.

The Latest: Sky reporter makes Ginter claim…

According to Sky sources, Spurs, and by extension their manager, are now eyeing the 28-year-old alongside an array of top clubs.

Ginter has already confirmed his intention to leave Gladbach on a free this summer as his contract nears expiry.

Subsequently, this has alerted Tottenham, alongside the likes of Aston Villa, Juventus and London rivals West Ham.

“Aston Villa among the clubs interested in Matthias Ginter on a free transfer, acc. to Sky Germany,” he explained (via Twitter).

“Separately, I’m aware he has been watched by a lot of top clubs this season including Juventus, Tottenham and West Ham.”

The Verdict: Make a move?

As Conte reportedly earmarks the signing of a central defender as a top summer priority, as backed by The Athletic, there are few better than Ginter on a potential Bosman deal.

Described as an ‘underrated’ player by former Germany boss Joachim Low, the international’s estimated £21.6 million valuation can be totally bypassed this summer – an opportunity Tottenham surely must consider.

According to WhoScored, only Gladbach keeper Yann Sommer has played more league minutes than mainstay Ginter.

The towering 6 foot 3 ace has also managed the second-most clearances per 90 (3) out of their squad in that time, all whilst coming in as Adi Hütter’s fourth-best Bundesliga performer by average match rating (6.83, WhoScored).

An accomplished and proven German top flight ace, we won’t be surprised to see more Spurs reports emerge on Ginter as the summer window nears.

In other news: Tottenham official sent to club as Paratici now eyes ‘imperious’ ex-Man City man for Conte! Find out more here.

Many Nottingham Forest supporters have reacted to the latest news regarding the next manager at the club following Chris Hughton’s departure.

Hughton left the club this morning after the 2-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough was the club’s sixth defeat in seven in this season’s Championship, leaving the Reds bottom of the table with one point.

The 62-year-old took over at the start of last season and guided Forest to safety with 52 points, but this season has struggled.

Following the departure of Hughton, news has emerged from The Athletic’s Paul Taylor that former Swansea City manager Steve Cooper is on the Forest radar, with his ability to improve young players and track record of leading Swansea to back-to-back playoffs noted.

But with the likes of Chris Wilder, Frank Lampard and Alex Neil available, there has been mixed reaction amongst the Forest fanbase regarding the link with Cooper.

Steven Reid will take temporary charge of the first team, for the time being, starting with Huddersfield Town on Saturday.

Forest fans react to Cooper links

These Forest fans have taken to Twitter to react to the news linking Cooper with the vacancy at the City Ground, as one supporter called the latest links ‘dreadful’.

“Another defensive manager, lol, when will we ever learn.”

Credit: @NFFCbaz

“I’d take him in a heartbeat.”

Credit: @ShakeyDay

“No no no. It’s Hughton all over again. Defensive, lacking creativity. Only three teams had fewer shots on goal than Swansea. Really bad posession rate and pass completion rate. If this is the man, I’m sorry to say Forest are blinded again. You get the football you hire.”

Credit: @mortenwj

“Would be a dreadful appointment and exactly same kind of manager we had for last 4 appointments”

Credit: @12bw1312

“Happy with Cooper, seems like a progressive manager and used to managing on a tight budget.”

Credit: @1966Jonty

“I hope so…but I hope its more than a sticking plaster, over the cracks within the club!”

Credit: @Trumanjase

In other news, Mark Crossley has expressed his concerns on specific area of Forest squad. Find out more here. 

Manchester United have received a potentially significant fitness boost ahead of their opening Premier League encounter against Leeds United.

What’s the latest?

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s charges kickstart their new campaign with a fiery fixture at home to fierce rivals Leeds United in today’s early kick-off. The Red Devils will be hoping to put in a solid performance and show their title-winning credentials in a tricky fixture, but they’ll be without several first-team players for the visit of Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds.

Marcus Rashford is out until October after having surgery on his shoulder, while Jesse Lingard and Dean Hendersen are ruled out with Covid-19. Solskjaer also revealed Raphael Varane’s transfer from Real Madrid hasn’t been finalised in time for him to play any part this afternoon.

“He hasn’t trained with us. Things take time,” he said in yesterday’s press conference. “Not 100 per cent done yet. He won’t be involved because he has not trained with us. The big hold up was the quarantine and the isolation – it will be done soon.”

The Norwegian tactician also revealed experienced striker Edinson Cavani will be unavailable after an extended break due to personal reasons.

“Edi (Cavani) is in the country, (but) he’s just finishing off his isolation period. He’s had a little bit of extra time for personal reasons,” he said.

However, Solskjaer did provide a positive update on the availability of United’s £73m summer signing Jadon Sancho. The former Borussia Dortmund winger only began training with his new teammates this week due to illness but could feature from the off against Leeds.

“Jadon is going to be involved definitely. Good week, but was ill after his holiday. He has looked sharper than expected. Can’t tell you if he is going to start, though.”

Solskjaer will be delighted

United ended a promising campaign empty-handed last term, finishing 12 points behind Premier League champions Manchester City before being defeated in the Europa League final by Villarreal.

It’s hoped that the arrival of Sancho will elevate the 20-time English champions back to their previous heights, reeling in their noisy neighbours in the process.

Picking up three points on the opening day would be a perfect day to their title tilt, and Solskjaer and the fanbase alike will be expecting exactly that.

Therefore, the United boss will be delighted at Sancho’s availability, and he’ll be hoping the England international can inspire the Red Devils to victory.

And, in other news…Ole could save millions by trusting “perfect” £40m gem, Man Utd fans would love him 

The Celtic Way journalist Tony Haggerty believes that new signing Josip Juranovic comes into Celtic with decent pedigree.

The 26-year-old joined Celtic from Legia Warsaw last month and after receiving international clearance, he signed a five-year deal at Paradise.

The Croatia international featured twice for his national team at Euro 2020 against both Scotland and Spain. Juranovic operates as a right-back but has also pushed further forward into a right-midfield position, as well as featuring as a centre-back and left-midfielder on occasion.

Juranovic has already featured nine times for Legia Warsaw in all competitions this season, scoring one goal and providing two assists, and Haggerty believes that he comes to Celtic with a decent pedigree.

“He’s come in with, as you say, a decent pedigree and you know, the right back position for Celtic has been a problematic position for a long, long time. So, Ange and the management team have identified somebody who they believe can fill that space,” Haggerty told Football FanCast.

Juranovic was the eighth summer signing at Celtic Park after Osaze Urhoghide, Liel Abada, Liam Shaw, James McCarthy, Joe Hart, Kyogo Furuhashi, Carl Starfelt, before the Hoops completed their summer business by bringing in Liam Scales, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Jota and Cameron Carter-Vickers.

Flocking to Twitter, a number of Manchester City fans have been left excited by a claim involving Paris-Saint Germain superstar Kylian Mbappe.

City have got their Premier League title defence off to a solid start despite their brief injury scares and dropped points away to Tottenham and at home to Southampton.

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/man-city-latest-developments/” title=”Man City latest developments!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]

Indeed, the Sky Blues have just come off the back of a crucial 1-0 win away to European champions and title rivals Chelsea, with Gabriel Jesus scoring the only goal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Now, it appears that City supporters have more to celebrate as a claim emerges involving Mbappe and Pep Guardiola’s side.

According to reporter Duncan Castles on The Transfer Window Podcast, it is said that the club have now been given a ‘mandate’ to sign the France forward and that they want him at ‘any cost’.

Flocking to this claim, many fans have been left excited by the prospect of signing the 22-year-old, who has scored 163 club career goals so far – check out some of their verdicts below.

Man City fans excited by Mbappe claim…

“IT’S HAPPENING”

Credit: @NoMoreWxrds

“Bring him to City ASAP”

Credit: @Nathan6ii

“Stop teasing me….”

Credit: @dameue3

“get him home please”

Credit: @Erlipson6

“I hope this is true”

Credit: @Dieguitocity

“Yesssssssssssssss”

Credit: @Kevin57197624

“FINALLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY MANIFESTATION COMING TRUE!

Credit: @MichaelNana

In other news: ‘Most underrated player in our squad’…lots of Man City fans wowed by star’s ‘best performance ever, find out more here.

Former player Steve Howey believes that Southampton are going to want a huge fee for midfielder James Ward-Prowse. 

The Saints captain played in all Southampton’s Premier League games last season, as well as making five FA Cup appearances and one Carabao Cup match, scoring nine goals and setting up a further seven.

Ward-Prowse only extended his contract last year with Southampton but has attracted the interest of Aston Villa this summer. Villa saw a bid of around £25m rejected for the Saints man last month according to Sky Sports, with Saints Extra claiming this week that the Midlands outfit are expected to return with a second offer, believing the England international could cost them up to £50m.

Steve Howey believes that the Saints will want to command a much higher fee for Ward-Prowse, telling Football FanCast: “I think they’d want a lot more than that, I think you’d be looking to double that possibly for him.”

Southampton have been active in the transfer window already this summer with four new signings. Theo Walcott, Tino Livramento, Romain Perraud and Dynel Simeu have all arrived at St Mary’s, and after Danny Ings departed the club for Aston Villa, talkSPORT understands that the Saints have enquired about the availability of Tammy Abraham on loan.

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has dropped an injury update concerning David Turnbull.

What’s the latest?

In recent comments cited by Football Scotland, the Bhoys boss revealed that the midfielder’s hamstring injury picked up in the first half of the League Cup final victory over Hibernian on Sunday came as a result of fatigue, something which is down to the midfielder having started all but one of Celtic’s 34 fixtures so far this season.

Speaking about the 22-year-old’s knock, Postecoglou said: “David suffered from the number of games we are playing at the moment. We are suffering because of that. We have not been able to rotate the squad a lot and that is hurting us at the moment, picking up these injuries. We will just see how he is.”

Fans will be furious

Considering just how important a part of the Celtic side Turnbull has become under the management of Postecoglou, the fact that the midfielder looks set to spend a spell on the sidelines is sure to have left the Parkhead faithful furious.

Indeed, over his 18 Premiership appearances so far this season, the £4.5m-rated man has scored five goals, registered four assists and created seven big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of a whopping 4.1 key passes – the most of any player in the league – and taking 3.7 shots – the second-most in the division – per game.

These returns have seen the £14k-per-week Scotland international average a rather remarkable SofaScore match rating of 7.87, ranking him as the joint-best performer in the entirety of the top flight.

As such, with several crucial fixtures coming up for the Hoops in the next few weeks, including January’s clash with their Old Firm rivals, the midfielder’s absence is sure to come as a major blow to Postecoglou and his side.

Without Turnbull’s creativity in the middle of the park, Celtic are undoubtedly a far poorer outfit.

In other news: Bye-bye Boli: Celtic must seal deal for “massive talent” who “the sky’s the limit” for

A devastating Newcastle United injury setback on striker Callum Wilson has emerged…

What’s the latest?

Telegraph journalist Luke Edwards has revealed that the forward has not been able to recover on schedule after going away with the rest of the squad in Dubai. He has also relayed that Eddie Howe is now changing his plans over the Englishman’s schedule due to this latest setback.

Edwards tweeted: “Bad news on Callum Wilson. Having started running in Dubai his recovery is not progressing as hoped. Howe admitted today plan for him to return is being pushed back.”

Gutted

This news will surely leave Newcastle supporters gutted for multiple reasons.

Firstly, they will be disappointed that they will not be able to see Wilson out on the pitch when they may expected him back. He is a proven Premier League performer and the fans he know is capable of finding the net regularly when given the opportunity, as he has scored 18 top-flight goals since the start of 2020/21.

Therefore, the Toon are currently dealing without his goalscoring prowess at the top end of the pitch and it is a huge blow to the side. Despite not playing a single minute of football in 2022, he remains the club’s top scorer in the league this season, which illustrates his importance to the team.

They will also be gutted with this update because of what it may mean heading into next season. Since joining the Magpies in 2020, Wilson has suffered seven separate injury issues and missed 29 competitive games in less than two full campaigns.

He has been unreliable for the Toon in terms of his availability, and being fit is a player’s most important attribute, given that it allows them to perform on the pitch. Howe will surely not want to go into next season with a first-choice striker who seems likely to miss a number of games because of his propensity to pick up knocks.

This may lead to the club looking to replace him in the summer. PIF and Howe could decide that they want to go for a player with a better injury record in an attempt to nail down that position instead of crossing their fingers and hoping for the best every time Wilson steps foot on the pitch, which is why this is a devastating development for the forward as it could put his future into question.

Supports would be gutted with this because of what he has been able to deliver on the pitch for the club whenever he has been fit. His 18 goals over the past 20 months for the Magpies have been pivotal to helping the side to remain in the Premier League, and fans will surely be upset if injuries continue to curtail his time as the main man at St James’ Park.

AND in other news, NUFC can finally replace Cabaye with “phenomenal” £34m gem, he has “magical powers”…

Wolverhampton Wanderers are plotting a surprise move to bring versatile midfielder John Swift to Molineux.

What’s the talk?

In a recent interview with Give Me Sport, the Express & Star journalist Luke Hatfield discussed Wolves’ recent links with a move for the Reading midfielder, claiming that the Premier League side would be breaking their transfer policy by signing the Championship star.

Speaking about the club’s links with the 26-year-old, Hatfield said: “The only thing you’d say in terms of Wolves’ transfer policy is you don’t see them too often plucking a name out of the Championship or British football in general, do you? It’s normally a player which you’ve not heard too much about – but the stats don’t lie with John Swift, do they?”

He’s what Lage is missing

Considering just how impressive Swift has been for Reading in recent seasons, in addition to the fact that Bruno Lage currently lacks significant depth in both central and attacking midfield in his first-team squad, a move for the former England U21 international would certainly appear to be a wise one by Jeff Shi.

Indeed, over his 11 Championship appearances this season, the £3.6m-rated man has wowed the Madejski with his astonishing returns, having already scored seven goals, registered five assists and created two big chances for his teammates, as well as taking an average of 2.1 shots and making a whopping 2.7 key passes per game.

These returns have seen the player Veljko Paunovic dubbed “super talented” average a rather astonishing SofaScore match rating of 7.62, not only ranking him as the Royals’ best performer in the second tier but also as the best player in the entirety of the league.

As such, while Hatfield’s claim that a move for Swift would be diverting from Wolves’ recent transfer policy of signing lesser-known foreign talents – with the club’s most recent domestic signing, aside from free transfers, being Benik Afobe back in 2018 – is indeed correct, the journalist’s further statement that the stats don’t lie with Swift also rings true.

So, when taking into account the fact that the 26-year-old’s contract expires at the end of the current campaign, and with goals from Lage’s midfielders having been severely lacking so far this season, a move for Swift would appear to make sense on a number of levels for Wolves.

In other news: Fresh fitness update emerges on “assured” £140k-p/w dynamo, Wolves fans will be gutted

Wolves youngster Ki-Jana Hoever will miss his side’s Premier League clash with Newcastle United through injury, according to reliable journalist Tim Spiers.

The Lowdown: Wolves head to Newcastle

Bruno Lage’s side are back in league action on Friday evening, making the trip to St James’ Park to take on a Magpies side who have pulled clear of the relegation zone.

It is another important game for Wolves in their quest to qualify for Europe this season, with victory taking them into seventh place ahead of Manchester United, for the time being at least.

With United playing one match fewer and also heading to out-of-sorts Everton on Saturday, it feels like a must-win game for the Wanderers.

[freshpress-poll id=“388780″]

The Latest: Hoever ruled out

Taking to Twitter, Spiers has confirmed that Hoever will be absent at St James’ Park because of injury, despite returning to training:

“Hoever also trained a bit but he’s not available tomorrow.”

[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/all-the-latest-from-wolves/” title=”All the latest from Wolves!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=“none”]

The Verdict: Blow to squad depth

While any injury is a blow, the absence of Hoever shouldn’t be a huge issue to the first XI, with the 20-year-old only starting four Premier League games this season.

However, with Nelson Semedo fit but perhaps not ready to start after such a long lay-off, it means that Jonny will likely continue at right-back rather than his preferred role, where he has scored in his last two appearances, so it is definitely a hit to the depth at Lage’s disposal.

The hope is that Hoever is back in the near future, however, allowing Jonny to switch back to the left and providing competition for Semedo, giving Lage the flexibility he needs to fire Wolves to a European place.

In other news, Wolves are believed to be in a four-way battle to sign one player. Find out who it is here.